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Odom, Cardenas continue training |
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  Wesley Odom Fernando Cardenas Wesley Odom of Poteau and Fernando Cardenas of Panama continue their common goal - to become Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers.
Odom is a 1996 graduate of Poteau High School and attended Carl Albert State College in Poteau. Cardenas is a Panama High School graduate. He attended Arkansas Tech University in Russelville in 1999 and earned an Associates Degree in Computer Science from CASC in 2002Cardenas also served in the U.S. Marines from 2000 to 2006, serving in Iraq in 2003.“We have a great group of people with diverse backgrounds, and we are experiencing a very successful academy,” said Cpt. Ronnie Hampton.Hampton is serving his first year as commandant and announced new training procedures.“We have changed things up quite a bit this year,” said Hampton. “We are trying new things in the area of training including approximately 300 hours of scenario training. The cadets will be taken through actual scenarios; for example a fatal hit-and-run crime scene where actual blood and car parts will be used as they will be required to successfully investigate.” Hampton said the new training will enhance Oklahoma’s law enforcement effort. “We want our cadets to be well-rounded, not only with traffic enforcement training but also professionally capable of assisting fellow law enforcement agencies in the rural areas of our state,” said Hampton. “We want our new troopers to be prepared for everything from domestics to manhunts, in addition to the 174 hours it will take them to successfully complete crash investigation training.” Hampton said all Oklahoma law enforcement officers are required to attend the Certified Law Enforcement Education and Training program that consists of 11 weeks or 505 hours of basic police academy. “In comparison, the OHP academy is residential, and it lasts 17 weeks with almost 1,200 hours of training,” said Hampton. “Our new scenario training program will take about 300 hours with these cadets performing actual field-practical exercises.” “Our goals and objectives include producing the best-trained, most highly skilled troopers who are not only prepared to work heavy metro traffic, but to assist fellow law enforcement with rural incidents,” said Hampton. The cadets will graduate from the academy on June 27. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 May 2008 )
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